Vanilla Swirl
by Imyoshi
Summary: "Yea?" Monique challenged halfheartedly, "And who is the right person?"
1. Vanilla

**Disclaimer**: I own nothing of Kim Possible.

**Vanilla Swirl**

**\- Vanilla -**

**By: Imyoshi**

Ice cream did sound good.

Coming back from a rather awkweird mission, Kim and Ron casually strolled into Mr. Fudgie's Ice Cream-o-Rama still dressed in their mission outfit, some tingles of red still brushing the bridge of Kim's nose. Luckily the atmosphere proved to be both pleasant and refreshing. Especially with hint of s'more flavored ice cream filling the air, Kim's favorite. And having Ron momentarily distracted didn't hurt either – anything for him to forget the sitch earlier.

Grinning playfully, Ron ran towards the ice cream windows to peer into the many by many of flavors for him to choose from. Kim rolled her eyes at his enthusiasm, smiling not as ecstatic as her best friend. Sometimes she couldn't figure how Ron could hold onto his child like wonder that made him, well, Ron.

Not wanting Ron to argue over the cashier on the number of topping one can have on a cone, Kim tried to catch up to him but was temporarily halted at the familiar silhouette in the booth beside her.

"Monique?"

The fashion diva turned her head, mouth filled with a dangling spoon, staring at Kim wide eyed. Time seemed to pass slowly before Monique swallowed her frozen treat and grinned at her friend in a somewhat forced fashion.

"Kim?" Monique tried to sound happy to see her and failed, horribly.

Kim was not dense like a rock – unlike some _people_ – and could quickly tell something was bothering her female best friend. It was straight female intuition; pure instinct, best friend alertness... and also seeing the two empty consumed cartoons of ice cream didn't hurt either.

Looking back at Ron to see if he hadn't jumped into an argument over toppings yet. He had not. The girl slid within the seat across her friend, demanding she spill.

"Monique," Kim whispered for Ron not hear or anyone else for that matter, "What's wrong?"

Monique stared at Kim, fidgeting her fingers, "Why would something be wrong Kim?" She simply pointed at the two empty ice cream containers. They stared for a while and then Monique sighed, her defenses done, "Another one."

Kim already knew what that meant.

"Oh mo, not another bad date," the hero girl urged, leaned in and holding her shoulder. Monique's eyes drooped for a second before she shook it off, taking another bite of her vanilla flavored ice cream.

"Another scrub Kim," she mumbled, finishing the last of her ice cream. Groaning hard, Monique fell back into her cushioned seat, "I'm starting to think I'm a scrub magnetic."

"C'mon mo. We both know you are not a _scrub_ magnetic," Kim reaffirmed, pulling away the ice cream containers from Monique to lessen the desire for more ice cream. Last thing she needed was to put on any extra pounds and then dish it out to her later.

"Oh really Kim," it sounded more of a matter of fact than question. "Every time a guy asks me out, they all just seem to think they could take me out on some low rate date to either a drive thru or a random gross picnic." Monique then glared a bit, "And then they try to see if they have a shot playing tonsil hockey at me," she crossed her arms, pouting, "I'm sick of it."

"But –!"

"So yea, I'm totally a scrub magnetic," ignored the fashion girl.

Kim smiled at her friend, shaking her head in disbelief, "Don't be silly Monique. You just, haven't met the right person yet."

"Yea?" Monique challenged halfheartedly, "And who is the _right_ person?"

Before Kim could even grasp the question, Ron found the two sitting in the booth. He quickly stared and then waved to his other female friend while his other hand held a vanilla swirl cone.

"Hey Monique what are you doing here?" Ron asked curiously not yet taking his seat.

Monique smiled weakly at the blond, "Oh you know Ron, just enjoying some ice cream." The girl gestured at the cartons beside Kim who was suddenly nervous like never before. Monique barely noticed it before Kim spoke up.

"Oh Ron I forgot to get my ice cream," she moved out the booth in a hurry fashion, pointing back at the concession stand even faster, "I'll just go get some, now, from over there – and not here." Neither of the other two teens could even respond before the red headed girl walked quickly to get her frozen treat.

Monique stared quizzically at her, shrugging eventually at her attitude. She really didn't feel like breaking down Kim to spill whatever was on her mind. At least not now. She was too depressed to bother. Besides, she could do that later.

"I wonder what that was all about," her lack of interest still didn't stop her from asking.

Ron lost in it all, shrugged at well, taking the seat that was previously occupied by Kim. He licked his mixed treat, falling back into the booth with a content sigh.

"Beats me," Ron answered absently. "She's been like ever since we returned from our mission to stop Drakken from using the moon to control the planet's tides."

Monique stared at him, confused as much as he normally was, "The moon?" What?

"Don't ask me," he blinked, "I _still_ don't get it. And he ranted it to us." Ron spilled a bit of his chocolate mix vanilla blend onto his black mission shirt. "Aww man," he whined, holding out his hands to inspect the irreversible damage.

Monique couldn't help but smile at his Ron-antics. It was the first warm smile she did all day. She almost giggled too, almost. She grabbed his cone from his hand. Ron gratefully sighed before trying to wipe the stain off his shirt with his sleeve. Nope, that didn't help at all. Only create a bigger stain on his shirt and his sleeve. The sidekick groaned even louder this time.

This time Monique couldn't hold back the giggles at his usual antics and without realizing, she licked a smidge of his ice cream, a tiny bit splashing on her caramel lips.

"So what were you and KP talking about just now?" he suddenly asked, taking the ice cream back with innocent looking eyes, licking another part of his cone.

Monique's giddiness vanished fast and a large thump rested in her throat. The idea of Ron wanting to know what was eating her somehow forced her to shut down. She couldn't tell Ron what happened. He was, Ron. A guy. Not Kim. A girl. Friend talk was for them, but girl talk for her and Kim. And her problems most definite flowed on the side of girl talk.

And Ron was not a girl. He could never be able to listen and talk to her. He was a guy. And guys never made good listeners.

"Nothing important Ron," she lied, flipping her hand in the air in order to sell it. "Just some sales going on at Club Banana later and these new jackets me and Kim plan to get later." Ok that one wasn't a lie. They had been talking about getting jackets later.

Watching the sidekick roll his eyes at the mention of Club Banana both irked and pleased the girl. At least she knew of some ways for Ron to lose interest in conversations.

"Don't remind me," Ron groaned, handing Monique his ice cream cone, "That's all KP has been talking about the past couple of days. On how blue is the new black and how a pair of boots would _totally _go cute with her winter sweater."

Monique stared amazed at the boy, almost letting the ice cream cone fall out her hands. She settled for the contents however to drip down her hand a bit. But the nerves in her body refused to acknowledge the cold substance tingling between her fingers.

"S-She told you that?" Monique asked dumbfounded? Unable to believe that he listened!

"Yea," he trailed, eyebrow lifted, "What's your point?"

"Nothing. It's just so... so!"

"So what?"

Monique didn't know how to rebuttal his direct question and luckily for her, she didn't have to. Kim had returned with her s'more flavored ice cream, scooting in next to her instead of Ron. Monique immediately took close note to this as well, but kept it to herself. Normally Kim would sit next to Ron, even whenever they went to Bueno Nacho.

Something was majorly up between them.

"KP your back!" Ron happily exclaimed, forgetting all about his earlier question. Monique breathed a sigh of relief from his change back to Ronness. Problem avoided.

Kim held up her ice cream in response, "Yea, they had my favorite flavor. And I wondered how much I should get. I settled for just a small cone."

She was about to take her first lick when – _Beep-beep-beep-beep – _the kimmunicator went off. Groaning, the girl pulled out the device from her cargo pants and peered onto the message before it. Her frown deepened.

"Darn, I totally forgot," she sighed, standing up, "I had to work more on the yearbook today. Last week's pages were due earlier today." Grumbling, she stuffed the device back in her pocket before sighing for the unknown time today. Looking at her two friends, Kim pointed her thumb towards the door. "I got to go."

Both Monique and Ron nodded in understanding knowing full well that Kim was a busy little bee. She smiled at her friends before running out to catch up on her overdue year book pages. Her companions watched in sadness at the girl left, not being able to enjoy some peace after a mission.

"I feel bad for Kim," Monique remarked, watching her run. Feeling a bit better that it wasn't her so stuffed back with demanding work. "It must be hard to save the world and still have to go work in all those clubs."

Ron grabbed back his cone from Monique's hands, grabbing back her attention. He licked it a few times, falling back easier into the cushioned seat. "Ah, don't worry about Kim Monique. She can handle a few yearbook pages. She can do anything."

Monique took Ron's praise of his best friend wholeheartedly. It must be nice to have someone have the up most confidence in you, no matter what life throws at you. She knew Ron was nice and wished maybe he could share some of that positive enthusiasm with her. Then maybe she could look at this scrub magnetic sitch in a whole different light.

"You know Kim is lucky to have you as a best friend," the fashion girl teased. Ron stops his assault on his frozen treat to stare at her innocently, eyes slightly wide. "Someone to always have her back," she grinned lowly. "It must be nice."

Ron lowered his ice cream, "What do you mean it must be nice? Don't you have a friend like that?"

Monique smiled wider at his concern, "I have friends Ron, you and Kim and some other people. Just not the friendship you and Kim both share. The closest I got to that is Kim. And she is always busy," she reminded him at the earlier display of Kim's departure.

The sidekick felt a small bit of guilt build in him. Even he wasn't that dense – busy just meant either she was either working on some school club project, practicing her cheerleading, running around the world to handle some mission, or hanging out with him. The matter of fact, Kim just didn't have much time to hang out without anyone but him. Especially Monique.

If only she could have a friend like him to spend more time with. Then like a cliché miracle, a thought popped into his head.

Why couldn't he hang out with Monique more? He wasn't nearly as busy as Kim was. Humph, scratch that! Ron Stoppable was never busy at all. It would be perfect!

"Well then that changes today Monique," he abruptly announced, handing her his ice cream. "I'll be that friend for you. We can hang out whenever Kim's too busy and I'm sure Felix won't mind if I cut out some Zombie Mashing time either." Ron frowned, "Besides he cheats."

Monique stared at the ice cream in her hands and then back at Ron. For one, she knew Felix didn't need to cheat to beat Ron at well, anything. Second she felt a little giddy and grateful to the way Ron just devoted his time to her without even a second thought. The act was chivalrous to her and she felt content about it.

But she couldn't force the poor boy to free up his time just for her.

Monique half smiled at him, "Ron that's not really –!"

"Nope," Ron so stubbornly cut in, moving his hand in a halting motion, "I'm not taking no as answer."

She stopped again to blink at his stubbornness. For a second the fashion girl actually found that willfulness a little pleasant. It felt nice. Real nice for someone to devote their time to her – not like those scrubs she had been spending time with recently. They only cared about themselves.

Besides – she doubted Ron would leave her alone now for spilling her feelings like that. It wasn't in him to go back on his word or leave a friend in need, even if they pushed him not.

Smiling bigger at him, Monique licked more of his vanilla swirl ice cream, enjoying the taste of chocolate and vanilla mixed together. They went well together, a perfect blend. She had stolen a few more licks until the thought bluntly bashed at her. This whole time she and Ron had been sharing an ice cream! His ice cream!

Realizing that she was the first to notice this, Monique handed him back his ice cream. A small lesser blush compared to Kim's etched on her nose. "So I'm not going to be able to get rid of you," her half asked half distracted him, "Am I?"

Ron took the ice cream without thinking, smiling quite proudly at her surrender. He resumed attacking his treat with equal vigor she had earlier. The ice cream was more than half way gone and melted.

"Like I said Monique. I'm not taking no as an answer." And with that his decision was final.

She gave.

There was no way of getting Ron off her back now. And the thought didn't seem so bad. At least she hoped it wouldn't be for the future. Shuffling a bit in her seat, Monique cleared her throat, re-grabbing his attention for clearly Ron Stoppable was lost and what they most have both thought was the perfect blend of ice cream.

_Ahem!_

Ron stopped enjoying his food again to stare at the interested girl in front of him. She had her arms crossed and her finger tugging lightly at her lip.

"So Ron," she started.

"Hn?"

"What exactly do I get for having the 'oh so _amazing _Ron Stoppable' as my own personal goofy close friend?"Monique asked, waiting to see his reaction. The idea did tempt her, but also haunted her. She so did not want to play Zombie Mashers or spend all day playing some computer games.

_Shiver!_

Ron tosses the cone in the air, catching it between his fingers in a seemingly impressive matter, for him at least. He smiles broadly at her, standing up from the booth, and rubbing one hand off his still ice cream stained mission tee.

"Well for starters you know that time when me and Kim had to deal with that freaky dude and that amulet thingy that made him all Egyptian like at the GWA?" Monique nodded at this. "Well after helping them stop that dude they gave us tickets for life to go watch wrestling matches whenever they had them. And since KP doesn't like wrestling?" He stopped hoping she got the hint.

She did.

Wrestling sounded off the hook!

"Ok," Monique fought the urge to excitingly jump up, but the grin on her face refused to go away. "Anything else?" she asked.

"We could eat at Bueno Nacho more."

Monique stared at him hard, "How is that any different from what we do now?"

Ron laughed, rubbing his neck, "Well since I beat you at our last burrito eating contest I just thought you would like a rematch," suddenly Ron leaned forward, slapping one hand on the table, pure resolve strong in his eyes. "Unless of course you admit that I could out-eat you anytime, anywhere, and anyplace."

Oh no this boy did not just challenge her. She only lost due to she had to burp last time! The twitch of rivalry burned in her eyes, equally as hot. Ok, he was challenging. Fair enough.

Monique stands up from her seat and smiles at Ron. Accepting his challenge – eh, new friendship. Unknowing to her, she swipe the cone in a competitive matter to prove how fast she can eat. In less than 5 seconds the entire cone was gone, leaving a slightly nervous Ron.

"Ok Ron," she started, poking at his chest, "I accept your _friendship_. Let's see how this works then."

Glad for her to see his way, Ron smirked. And Monique realized something – this was the first time she ever seen the boy smirk. Grin, smile, even beam, but never smirked. The confidence in his expression showed power and determination. Something Monique was only slightly use to seeing in Ron. And in a way a smirking Ron Stoppable proved to put her on the edge, but in a majorly good way.

"So Ron, what do you want to do then?" she asked, waiting for to see how this would turn out.

The sidekick began walking towards the door, waving off handily, "Well... there is a GWA match today with Steel Toe vs. Pain King." That smirked returned, "And I can't wait to see Steel Toe demolish Pain King."

Oh no he didn't!

Without much warning, Monique roughly pushed Ron out the door, shoving him playfully, "Fine then! Let's go watch my boy take down Steel _Woe_," she mocked, edging her voice.

"It's Steel Toe!" he retorted.

"Sure it is... until Pain King thrashes him!" Monique smirked back, licking her lips – the taste of vanilla and chocolate still pleasantly etched on her between them. She found she liked the flavor – a lot.

* * *

**Author Notes: **Not sure if I should continue this.

I've always wanted to write a Monique and Ron story, but I doubt any of you readers would care for it. There... just isn't _nowhere_ near enough of them.


	2. Chocolate

**Disclaimer**: I own nothing of Kim Possible.

**Vanilla Swirl**

– **Chocolate –**

**By: Imyoshi**

"There you go Pain King! Thrash him!"

The sounds of countless screams filling the stadium couldn't drown out the one ecstatic fashion girl's cries of encouragement.

Just like promised, Ron got Monique and him into the GWA wrestling match between their two favorite yet rivalry wrestlers – Pain King and Steel Toe. Monique had been absolutely thrilled when she discovered their seats to be at the up most front. And even more so when the match started off in Pain King's favor, earning her a fuming blond of a friend. But what finally set Ron off was how sneakily Monique stole his arm rest when he shot up from his chair, yelling at Steel Toe to try harder.

Oh, the girl liked to play.

Sitting on the edge of their seats, Monique grinned deliciously as Pain King caught Steel Toe in a guillotine hold, forcing the over colossal man down under. The sidekick glowered more. There was just no way could he have Monique bragging to him. No way! He would never hear the end of it.

"C'mon Steel Toe," Ron yelled, hands cupped. "Don't let that Halloween wearing yahoo push you around! Upper cut him! Upper cut!"

Hearing her all time favorite wrestler being called a Halloween yahoo, whatever that is, made Monique's blood boil. She slowly elbowed Ron and began pushing him to the side, and Monique smirked at the newly enraged teen. Before they realized it, both were nudging each other forcibly on their seats, not wanting the other to gain the upper hand. They appeared evenly matched, but Monique didn't falter.

Wrestling really did bring out the nastiness in her and appears it did for Ron as well.

"Face it Ron," she reasoned, grinning. "Steel _Woe _doesn't stand a chance! Pain King's got him pinned!"

"In. Your. Dreams! Steel Toe's got this fight hands down!" Ron declared. "Just you wait and see. He's just pretending to be losing that's all."

The girl grinned wider, touching her pouting lip. A devious thought popped into her fashion filled head, "Oh really, pretending?"

"Yes really!"

The girl fell back more into her seat, drowning out all the screaming coming from the rest of the crowd. Why not have some fun? Even she could see Pain King's victory in the near future, but knew Ron couldn't. And this could be a good chance to do something positive for her _new_ friend. It was only fair. A way of saying thanks really. Just in a mean cruel ironic way.

"Wanna bet then?" Ron stopped shouting to look at her, eyes blinking. She didn't bother to wait for a response. "If Pain King wins then I get to change your wardrobe for the rest of the school year." She gestured at his red jersey khaki combo. The girl waited for Ron to catch up with her.

He smirked foolishly at Monique's attempts to get him to wear something more fashion desired. Like that was gonna happen. No one can change Ron and essential Ronness, not even Kim. And believe him, she's tried, "Fine, but if Steel Toe wins–!"

"Which he won't," Monique teased.

Ron glared, arms crossed. "Which he _will. _You have to wear a Hawaiian shirt to school with shorts for a whole week."

Monique paused at his bet, almost out right mortified at the mere thought. A Hawaiian shirt never looks good. Ever! And wearing one to school would be social suicide. She didn't even own a damn one. The sight of those tacky patterns and leaves burned her eyes. They were an atrocity to the fashion world and needed to be destroyed!

But the idea did provoke her. Who knew Ron Stoppable could be so cunning. Attacking a person's weakness just like that, even if he did do it with a somewhat innocent boyish charm.

Smirking, Monique extended her hand out, waiting for his impending doom.

Focus solely on her and not the sound of the referee counting to three, Ron reached out, shaking her hand and sealing both their fates.

"And the winner is PAIN KING!"

The hairs on his neck rose and Monique eye brows rose in content. Scratch that – sealing _his _fate.

His eyes shifted from Monique's victory stare to see that Steel Toe was indeed pinned down by Pain King's leg. The ref had lifted the Halloween cape crusader's arm in victory and all the Pain King fans cried in joy, all except Monique. She was far more content with Ron's reaction.

Finally realizing he lost the bet, Ron looked back to the girl, then the ref, and repeated the process multiples times before cupping his face in his hands and throwing himself back in the stadium chair.

"Aww man!"

...

Giddy, Monique enjoyed the stretch of silence as both her and Ron walked towards the exit of the stadium. Her steps were light and Ron forced his feet to even move. Seeing the sidekick mad, Monique smiled. Even at his expense, she actually had a lot of fun. The wrestling and tricking poor Ron into a bet proved way better than going home and seeing whatever her brothers were up to. And thinking of the bet, Monique wondered how much she could milk that for it was worth.

Lost in their thoughts, the comfortable silence was broken when they both spotted a souvenir stand at the main exit making last minute sales. The poorly dressed middle aged man yelled out to any passing potential customer to grab a memento for the excellent fight.

To her a souvenir sounded awesome, "C'mon Ron I want to get a souvenir."

"Do we have to?" he sighed.

The fashion girl grabbed her hips in a half annoyed and teasing style. She then grabbed him by the arm and dragged him towards the stand. "Last time I checked, weren't you supposed to be acting like some awesome friend I _so _desperately needed?"

Ron remembered his words all too well. "Oh... you are going to hold that over my head now aren't you?"

"You know it!"

Finding themselves at the front of the stand, their eyes scanned over the various merchandise scattered across the table. Everything ranged from wrestling shirts; funny hats, sport cups, and even silly plush toys, however nothing particular caught their interest.

"Do you see anything Monique?" Ron asked, holding up a shirt with the Logo the GWA inscribed into its threads.

Monique shook her head, a tad disappointed that they couldn't find anything worth buying in their opinion. All the junk the seller had proved to be well… junk.

A few minutes of mindless searching turned out with no results and they found themselves slowly leaving the stand empty handed.

"Wait," called out the seller. "I got something else you two might find interesting."

Both the teens stopped their stroll towards the exit to see man pull out a box from beneath the register. Curious like a cat, the duo went over to see him unveil a necklace inside with a golden heart pendant in the inside. Their eyes open wide at the design – a heart with a bandage over it, holding down the two pieces from splitting. The little designed made it look like it just came out of a fight ironically. It even had Best Wrestling Buddies inscribed in the adorable bandage.

The man pulled out the pendent for both their eyes to glue over. "This here is hand crafted from the finest–!"

_Blah! Blah! Blah!_

They blocked out the man's description of the pendent, glazing over the fighting spirit of the design. It was badical. Awesome! Spanking! Some fourth word to describe more awesomeness! And they both needed to have it!

"How much?" Monique beat Ron to punch, but he soon asked after.

Having been interrupted, the scowl on his face flashed away from her question. Pushing the necklace back in the box, he slid over to her, "How about 50 dollars?"

"50 bucks?!" Monique screeched. "I better be getting a foot rub to go with that?"

"Nope," he then tore the trinket in two. "But it does split into two pieces if that helps you at all. And can be reformed again."

Glaring, now Monique really wanted that pendent. But for such an outrages price, even by cheap junk standards, she contemplated whether to buy it or not. It would be the perfect souvenir after such an radical wrestling match.

But... shopping at Club Banana had always robbed her of her cash rather quickly. And she wasn't bound to get her next paycheck for at least another week. It was a curse really, being gifted with unnatural fashion taste. And in the end she could afford the small necklace, but at the price of her school lunch most likely.

Ron watched Monique struggle in the inside, having trouble whether to buy the pendent or not. By instinct he blinked, then automatically pulled out his wallet and quickly paid the excited man. Monique didn't even get a chance to protest from him stealing her gift before being abruptly handed the box.

Uncomfortable silence quickly filled the air. The girl held the box in her hands and Ron smiled warmly at her stunned features before shrugging indifferently. Already he felt buying the gift for her was well worth it. It wouldn't be the first time he bought a gift for a friend.

Before Monique could speak, Ron began walking towards the exit, hands stuffed deep in his pockets. Monique shook her head swiftly and ran to catch up with him, ignoring the merchant's calls to come back another time. She slipped in front of him, roughly shoving the box into his chest.

"I believe this is yours Ron," Monique weakly pushed, mad that she didn't buy it on time.

Ron looked at the box pushing against his chest, raising a questioning brow. He grabbed it, forcing it back to Monique's hand. "No, I don't remember buying it for me."

"But you–"

"I remember buying it for you," he stopped her, the words frozen on her tongue. "It's a gift." He smiled, "From one friend to another."

A gift? Someone gave _her _a gift?

"It's too much," her mouth moved for her.

This caused Ron to laugh, "Please Monique! You should've seen the jacket I bought for Kim when she thought green was the new black. Now, that was an expensive gift." Ron pointed at the box, "This however is perfectly fine."

Having his words sink in, Monique looked down once again at the box, slowly opening it. She withdrew the gold trinket, dangling it between her fingers in awe. It was a gift for her, from Ron. Not another scrub giving her a lame gift, but a friend that was just doing a simple nice act–– because they were _friends_.

Looking back at Ron, she saw that same Ron Stoppable determination from earlier.

And already Monique knew he didn't plan to take no for an answer.

Sinking in, she smiled and then ripped the tiny trinket in two, handing him one half. "Here, we each get half then."

She wrapped the other half around her neck that held the bandage part. Ron easily accepted the gesture, knowing Monique would be too stubborn to go against now, and wrapped the other half around his neck too.

"There! Now we both have a something to remember this awesome day where Pain King demolished Steel Toe," teased the fashion girl, waiting for Ron to counter.

Ron crossed his arms, "Are we going to do this every time Pain King gets lucky?"

Monique pushed the exit doors open, accepting the cool night air. "You mean every time my boy Pain King flattens Steel Toe with skill?" she smirked. "Then yes."

"It was luck and you know it!" Ron poked her on the shoulder, following her outside in the midst of night, the moon and stars providing small essence of light.

"Aw, what's next Ron? Are you going to tell me that wrestling is fake too?" Monique nudged him on the shoulder as they walked off in the cool night. "Just face it! Pain King totally went to town on Steel _Woe._"

"I said it's Steel Toe!" Ron threw his hands in the air. "And just wait for next week's match for The Brawl in the Hall! Steel Toe is going to humiliate Pain King, winning him the Hall Monitor Belt!"

"Sure, sure," Monique off handily waved, ignoring his glare. "Whatever makes you happy."

Ron shifted his head away and huffed at her stubbornness, recalling Kim could be the same way and he learned how to pick his fights. Only difference between the two was Monique proved to be less harsh about it. Kim bluntly called him out whenever the moment called it, while Monique didn't. But nevertheless! The girl was utterly stubborn!

Walking in more silence, they slowly came into view of Monique's humble abode. Luckily for the both of them Middleton proved to be a limited space of residence. Everything conveniently needed was close by making the walk to Monique neighborhood a short trip.

"So Monique," Ron called out, smiling like a fool. "What do you wanna do tomorrow? Cause today was badical! Ice cream and wrestling! What more could a guy want!"

Pulled suddenly out of the silence, she stared surprised that he already let go of his earlier grudge at her. Honestly she expected more sulking time or that Steel _Woe _call. Mad at her teasing and whatnot. Monique really thought she had maybe pushed his button a little too hard or maybe she had just come to get use to that. Either way, it baffled her.

"You still want to do something tomorrow?" she asked, adding, "With me?"

"Of course, today was beyond radical!" Ron didn't seem to catch her shock features.

Her lips tugged; "Well... we could go watch that new George Washington Werewolf Slayer movie that came out last week?" the fashion girl shrugged. "I've been wanting to see that movie."

She swore he blurred in front of her eyes.

Moving fast – beyond fast, Ron grabbed her by the forearms, shaking with pure enthusiasm a teen sidekick could muster, which was a lot by the way.

"Oh that's perfect! You have no idea how much I wanted to see that!" Monique allowed one eyebrow to rise to keep him talking. "Only problem was KP never wanted to see that movie so we didn't." He pouted, "She would rather watch some movie called A Summer of Dreams."

Ron shuddered at the mere mention of a chick flick. Even Monique shivered at the thought of watching one of those movies that cause people to cry and tear up and junk. Those were so not her type of scene.

"I almost threw up at the sappy lovey dovey scenes." He added.

Oh yea, she shivered hard.

"Well then," smirked the fashion girl. "It's a good thing were not watching one of _those_. We got a date with a werewolf slayer to go to instead."

Letting her go, he threw his hands up in the air, clearly overjoyed. After words they resumed their lighter walk to Monique's ever closing in home.

Having his day become that much more badical, Ron didn't see the tense stare coming from Monique as he walked blissfully content, his hands resting behind his unkempt hair.

Her sympathetic look only stretched on her features as she recalled Kim talking about watching A Summer of Dreams. The conversation mentally sapped her that day and it took much will power not to groan at small mentions of sweet loving scenes. Really, that idea hadn't been sitting all too well with her for a while now. Love, couples, romance, and any other form of affection left a bitter taste in her mouth and she rather not be reminded of movie perfect couple, even if they weren't really real.

But still, she couldn't even fathom what that sort of movie had done to the poor boy.

Reaching her home, Ron sat promptly on her patio. Monique followed, observing how easy he let his eyes close in comfort and body relax. In a way it sent a speck of jealousy to rise in her. How could he so easily relax without a single care sometimes? If anything he should be far more stressed than her considering how hectic his life turned out.

"So? Tomorrow movies then?" he broke the silence so suddenly, staring at her innocently, his mouth slightly open.

Monique realized she had been caught staring and felt her chest constrict and face warming slightly. Shuffling her feet, a small smile tugged again on her lips. "Yea. Sounds like a plan to me."

"Coolio!" He leapt up, preparing to head home. "Then after the movie we can stop by Bueno Nacho for some snackage then."

The grin on her face grew larger as he began walking farther away. "That sounds like a plan." Her grin then turned evil, "Then we can go to the mall so I can collect on my bet."

Ron's foot stopped for a second, and then he continued walking, shoulders falling. "Yea... sure. Ron Stoppable is definitely a man of his word. It's in the rules."

More and more Ron Stoppable found more reasons to hate the 'rules'.

The small heavy sigh leaving his lips could easily be heard and Monique enjoyed the feeling greatly. "Great then! I can't wait for tomorrow! I have so many fashion styles to try on you! Maybe we can even get you to–!"

Ron weakly waved off blocking out Monique's torture ideas and already dreading the next day more than he should have. Oh yea, the sidekick knew nightmares planned to visit his sweet slumber tonight. Maybe if he was lucky Kim could save him in his dream? Or maybe... she would side with Monique! No! Please sweet Naco don't let that happen!

As Ron struggled in the inside, Monique watched him leave, unable to fight off the smile on her lips. Despite the earlier failed date and over ice cream consumption, today had actually proved to be one of her better days. It was nice to have someone to hang out with who liked her unusual quirks. Actually, just having someone to be around who wasn't like the other scrubs out there made the past few hours very enjoyable.

And the thought of hanging out tomorrow only fueled her bubbly feelings, enough for her to actually almost skip to her door– _almost_. But her fingers didn't stop to touch the half gold pendent resting on her neck as she all but changed and crawled into bed.

Tomorrow would prove to be a perfect day. Something she silently wished for and unknowingly to her, someone too made that wish – holding his half of the trinket between his fingers as well.

* * *

**Author Notes: **So I need to ask my fellow readers something important. For my next story **after** I finish this one since you encouraged me to continue this whimsical tale, I need to know which you would prefer.

A **Zutara** story? And yes I am a Zuko and Katara shipper.

My own version of **So the Drama** since everyone is doing it.

A **Rongo**, need I say more?

Or finally the third story in the **Lemon** and **Apple** diary universe?


	3. Strawberry

**Disclaime**r: I own nothing of Kim Possible.

**Vanilla Swirl**

– **Strawberry –**

**By: Imyoshi**

Not even the smell of burnt popcorn and overpriced hot dogs could stop the pointless argument between Ron and Monique.

"Will you just let go Ron?"

"No way Monique," Ron firmly refused. "I mean how hard is it to give him a different job other than ticket booth guy? The guy's hands are freakishly moist!"

"Ron," Monique argued. "Just drop it. We got our tickets, so nothing to worry about. What's done is done."

Ron blinked, pulling out a ticket from his now damped pocket. "If that's the case, why are you making me hold your ticket? Why don't you hold your own ticket?"

The fashion girl gasped and stared at him like he had gone mad from an overdose of Diablo Sauce. Which wouldn't be too crazy considering the boy drowned the flavoring in practically anything—including more Diablo Sauce.

"Are you out of your mind?! There's no way I'm holding that after he _touched _it!" Monique hid her hands in her sweater pockets, pouting stubbornly. "I like my hands dry thank you very much."

The sidekick glared, "Hey you're no better than me!"

Monique smirked, "Never said I was."

Lingering casually in the multiplex, Ron and Monique found themselves a bit ahead of schedule, their movie not at least starting for another half hour, leaving the duo some time to kill. Ron had dressed in his relaxed red jersey and khaki attire and Monique in a bit more fashioned taste appeal. The stylish girl wore a dark crimson hoodie and plain white-tee shirt, combed together with a pair of solid black jeans and her half of the gold pendant which really brought out her eyes.

They had decided to come to an early show to avoid a packed theater. A smart decision on their part if not for the ironic twist of them showing up early to said theater.

Both clearly did not think their idea through.

Now early to a poorly thought out plan, they both walked aimlessly in the theater lobby. One enjoying the sulking coming from the other's internal detest towards the ticket guy. Monique had actually found it entertaining to watch as Ron shuffled the soggy tickets between his pockets, groaning every second as he did. It definitely beat anything she could come up with.

"You know what! Let's just head into the theater!" Ron threw his hands up in surrender. He had just about enough of the wet tickets for one life time. "I rather wait half an hour than hold _these_ another second longer."

Monique shook her head, trying to hide her playful smile. Poor Ron.

They reached the usher, and Ron couldn't be more than overjoyed to hand him his tickets. The man paused his arm halfway, staring at the tickets in Ron's hand. Then he subtly looked away, moving aside.

"Uh, sir, you can go ahead and keep those. Please go right in. It's the third theater on your right."

First nothing happened and then slowly, Ron felt his hand shake with either rage or disbelief, maybe both from the usher's words. Meanwhile, the red vested man had whistled to the side, finding his fingers vastly interesting at the moment.

Eventually he finally came to terms with the sitch and Ron squeezed the piece of paper in his hand, before falling to the floor on his knees, "Aww man!"

Monique giggled under her hoodie at the scene, taking pleasure at his discomfort. The day had just begun and already her mood had been better today than the last few days. And they hadn't even watched their movie yet. The girl already knew today was going to be a spankin day.

After Ron grumbled and had his teenage life crisis, they finally walked into their theater room where Ron swiftly ripped up the tickets in his hands and threw them into the nearest trash bin. His mood somewhat lightened after that, but Monique could still see his occasional wipe of his fingers against the vacant theater seat beside him. She wondered how long it would be until Ron realized you could just buy tickets online.

Monique thought about telling him, but then paused, thinking about the cons and pros of telling Ron. After a short, heated debate in her head, she settled for not. Seeing Ron complain about soggy tickets was a pleasure way too much fun to give up.

Her train of thought was interrupted as Ron reached into his pocket and pulled out a random candy bar. Seconds later, his naked mole rat ran up from his lower pocket and up his sleeve, resting on his shoulder, and taking a piece of sugary goodness in his hand. However, Monique just stared at the chocolate treat in his hand.

"You snuck in food?" she asked suddenly.

Both their heads turned at her, blinking in response. "What, you didn't?"

Monique reached into her sweater's pockets, pulling out a bag of gummy bears. She grinned, kicking her feet above the seat ahead of her. "I didn't say that."

"What?!" Ron huffed, pointing at her. "And you're giving me heat?"

"Hey," Monique waved defensively, plopping one colorful bear in her mouth. "I thought that heroes are supposed to be like role models and whatever. And sneaking in food or a pet for that matter doesn't sound like something a hero would do."

Ron grinned. "You are forgetting Monique, I'm a sidekick." he informed, clicking his fingers together. "Say it with me... sidekick. Not a hero. The rules don't apply to me there."

Monique stared, finding him hard to believe. "But aren't all sidekicks supposed to be good?"

He shrugged, biting into his candy bar, and staring at the screen and its impossible trivia questions. "Shego's a sidekick and is she good?"

"Point taken."

Falling easier into her seat, the fashion girl tossed another gummy bear into her mouth, staring at the random screen notes in front of her. The only sounds in the almost empty dark theater came from the light chewing from Rufus and the occasional moments of Ron rubbing his fingers against the theater seats.

Eventually the lights darken more and the random trivia questions left the screen to be replaced with the first of the many movie previews, spoken by a narrator voice of unyielding proportions.

**…**

"Again no answer," grumbled Kim, kicking her feet above the couch. "Where is he?"

For at least the past half hour, Kim had been trying to see where Ron was to see if he wanted to hang, but he hadn't answered his house phone, not once at all, and she was starting to worry.

Kim redialed his number, hearing the ringing in her ear. "C'mon, pick up Ron." She waited for the ringing to stop before chucking the phone on the floor and sinking closer to the floor. "Agh! Where is he?"

Having heard Kim's distress cries, Ann entered the living room to stare at her upside down daughter on the couch. She had a nice warm cup of coffee, so she could probably handle any sitch Kimmie might needed to dish out.

"Troubles honey?" Ann asked, staring down at Kim with an amused small smile.

Kim looked up at her mom and pointed at the accusing phone on the floor. "Ron won't pick up his phone. I can't seem to get a hold of him."

"Maybe he's busy?" Ann reassured.

"Ron... busy? Puh-leeze mom," Kim argued, sitting up right, and digging her fingers into the couch. "Ron doesn't _do_ busy. He's probably just sleeping or playing those pointless video games again."

Her mother shrugged, not really knowing how to handle a 'missing' Ron sitch. "Well you could just over and see if he's home if you're so worried."

The hero girl sighed, figuring that would be the best course of action. Really, what was the harm in that anyways? She did have a spare house key for reason. "I guess you're right mom. I'll go check up on–!"

_Beep-beep-beep-beep_

Kim by force of habit, pulled out her Kimmunicator, completely ignoring her earlier problem. She checked the worded message on the screen, rereading it multiple times before softly falling on the couch in a dramatic teen fashion. The girl loathed, forcing herself up and towards her bedroom.

Worried for her only daughter, Ann walked behind Kim, grabbing her shoulder. "What's wrong sweetie? Another mission?"

Kim sighed, shaking her head. "Worse. The drama club asked if I could pick up some supplies and help them make some banners before the next play. And the yearbook club asked if I could pick up some spare ink." Kim entered her room before stepping out wearing an outfit consisted of warm clothes—a dark green sweater and her blue cargo pants. "Looks like I'm heading to the mall now."

Ann eyes turned her sympathetic, she loved that Kimmie liked to get involved with school and other activities as much as possible. But she worried that if Kim kept piling on responsibilities that she would miss out on the more important parts of her life.

"So what play are they working on this time?" Ann asked, taking a quick sip of her beverage.

Kim shrugged, not all too familiar with the drama theater. "I'm not too big on it, but it's something from Shakespeare." She stopped, rubbing her hair. "I think it's called The Twelfth Night? I'm not entirely sure." The girl reached for the door, "All I know is that I'm heading to the mall to go buy some art supplies."

Her mom plopped down on the couch, easing into the fabric, and taking more daring sips of the hot beverage. "You know you could go to Smarty Mart and get everything like half off right?"

Kim groaned, disregarding her advice, "As if. You won't ever catch me entering that store. That store is way too discounty for my taste... only weirdo's shop at Smarty Mart."

Ann watched as Kim left to embark for the mall, frowning a bit.

She liked to shop at Smarty Mart.

**…**

"Did you see the way George Washington chopped off that werewolf's head?!" Ron excited recalled, jumping out of his seat. "That was totally badical!"

"I know! The way he threw his sickle clear across the room was awesome!" Monique remembered that scene all too well; the bloody gore mixed with his 'I cannot tell a lie' line really pushed the scene to its upmost badical limits.

"Yea," Ron smugly remarked. "That'll teach that werewolf guy to not wear a shirt."

The fast action paced movie had turned out to be pretty awesome and the teen duo found themselves standing in the theater hall, recalling their favorite parts of the movie. Each describing how majorly epic each time George Washington decapitated those blasted werewolves. Occasionally they would stop and laugh before indulging in more recent accounts of the movie they had only seen less than half an hour ago.

Finally after their blockbuster rush died down, both were left standing in a good mood in an increasingly crowded theater hall. Apparently the next showing were about to start and neither had notice how long they had actually been standing there gushing. Now the hall littered with people attempting to get to their destined theaters.

"I guess we should get going huh?" Ron wondered, beckoning Monique to follow his lead towards the exit. "This place is starting to get a little tight."

Monique paused and checked her watch. The day was still pretty early and the fashion girl knew neither of them would be hungry for another hour or so after drowning themselves in candies. She checked the hall of busy moving people and a sly grin formed on her face.

"Or," she added. "We could watch another movie." Monique pointed at the Killer Kangaroo 2 title – Return of Dingo. "I heard that movie rocks."

The blond stared impassively. "As much as I would like to watch Killer Kangaroo 2... and believe me, I would." He crossed his arms in protest. "I'm not paying for another 13 dollar ticket." Ron shivered, "Or taking a chance at holding another one of those sweaty tickets."

Monique grinned wider, grabbing him by the arm, and pulling him towards the theater. "Who said anything about paying? I see the movie right there."

His eyes widened, "You mean like sneak in?"

"Yes," she confirmed, waiting for his response.

"Isn't that you know... illegal?" he asked, rubbing his neck nervously.

"Bringing in snacks from outside is illegal." Monique countered seriously and when Ron failed to answer back, her grin turned devious as she poked him on the shoulder in a teasing manner. "What? Are you scared?"

"I'm not scared!" he yelled, crossing his arms.

Monique ignored him; instead she nonchalantly edged away from him and towards the theater. "I did not know that the great Ron Stoppable was scared of sneaking into another movie?"

"I'm not scared!" he repeated louder. Then he pursed his lips, "It's just doesn't sound like something that we should do. Heroes aren't supposed to do things like that."

The fashion girl poked him again, her eyes lowering to a taunting level. "I thought that you were a sidekick. You know... sidekick." Monique waved her hand aimlessly, mocking his past words. "Say it with me... sidekick."

And just like that, Ron's earlier argument came back to haunt him again. First the friend agreement and know his sidekick rules! He found himself speechless at the crafty side of Monique he didn't know existed. Heck! He bet Kim didn't even know this side of Monique. Sure, he got a taste of it at the GWA wrestling match yesterday when she tricked him, but it still surprised him at how much he did not know about the stylish girl's sneaky side.

The sidekick glared, "I got to stop telling you about all these rules I live by."

"Yea," Monique laughed, pulling him into the theater. "They really don't help you at all."

**…**

After another semi enjoyable movie, both Monique and Ron were heading towards the Middleton Mall where Monique planned to cash in on her bet. The entire walk Ron avoided her stare, not wanting to see that twinkle of mischief in her tanned eyes. He had enough of being tricked into things without wanting to add anymore to his list. He could only imagine all the horrible shopping experiences that Monique had planned for him.

Smirking, Monique already had a firm grasp on what she wanted her blond freckled 'friend' to wear. But why not have fun with it? She had an entire school year to style up Ron and the fashion diva planned to make the most out of the sitch. Besides, this would be good for Ron.

It was about time he switched out of his tacky wardrobe anyways.

Reaching the mall, Monique literally grabbed the boy by the arm and pulled him towards her favorite store—Club Banana.

Ron tried to fight her hold once or twice, but a swift glare that could match Kim and Shego's was all she needed to settle him. This only fueled his theory that all females he knew were scary.

Pushing the sidekick into the store, Monique shooed him towards the dressing room as she went to retrieve many by many articles of clothing. Ron didn't even get a say in the matter as the door to the dressing room slammed in his face.

Monique wasted no time and pulled out a white-tee with a range of thin to thick onyx black stripes etching on the corner of the shirt. She then plucked him a pair of black cargo pants and even a crimson zipper hoodie from another rack. Luckily she practically lived here, so Monique wasted no effort in having to find what she had in mind.

Ron waited for a moment before a pile of clothes fell from atop the dresser door. He got drenched in an avalanche of style and Ron Stoppable barely had time to scream before he learned one new fact about fashion.

Fashion hurt... a lot.

The teen grumbled beneath the pile of clothes, not liking how this whole bet was turning out.

"Hurry up and get dressed Ron! I want to see how that looks on you!"

He sighed underneath the pile, forcing himself up from the floor. Rufus jumped out his pocket and scurried out the dressing room and towards Monique. The girl picked up the little mole rat and rested him on her shoulder, both waiting for Ron to finish dressing.

"Monique?"

Monique turned to see Kim entering Club Banana with many bags in her hands looking quite drained. There was a forced move in her step and she looked a more little stressed as well.

"Oh hey girl," she greeted with a wave.

"Uh-huh! Hi Kim!" Rufus added.

This time Kim's eyes rested on Ron's pet and she blinked a few time. "Rufus?! You're here too?!" Kim stopped, her brain going into overdrive. "That means Ron's here too, isn't he?"

The questioned died on her lips as the front door to the dressing room opened up with a newly dressed Ron Stoppable. He walked out with his sweater zipped, sleeves cuffed upward, and hood down and parts of his white shirt sticking out from the bottom, clashing very nicely with his black cargo pants. The sidekick clearly was uncomfortable wearing something 'new' but that didn't stop him from forcing a smile.

Monique had seemed to forget all about Kim and rushed over to inspect the new Ron. She surveyed his outfit, checking him from all side with her judging eyes, rubbing her chin in deep thought.

"Hmm," she paused, circling him again. "It looks good, but something's not right here. I just can't seem to put my finger on it though."

Amazingly for her, Rufus jumped off her shoulder, and ran up Ron's arm. There he grabbed hold of his sweater's zipper and jumped down, opening up the hoodie for his white shirt and a few bars of black to peek through. Then he ran back up to Monique and inspected the newer looker with her, twisting his fingers into an imaginary camera.

Monique's critic stare turned into a grin and she high fived the little mole rat on her shoulder.

"Booyah!" Monique proudly yelled, sliding over to look at Ron a bit closer.

While Monique and Rufus were busy handling a newly refurbished Ron, Kim had stood there staring the entire time. Her eyes had gone wide, the bags in her hands fell forgotten, and her voice decided now was the perfect time to take a vacation. She continued to stare at Ron's sudden changed appearance before she realized she still had things to do.

And Kim _really_ did not want to get caught staring.

"Ron?" Kim called out.

Ron looked over Monique to see Kim standing by the door. His somewhat forced smile only grew a bit more nervous. "Oh, hey KP! What are you doing here?"

Coming out of her daze, Kim crossed her arms still a little tweaked with him for not picking up his phone earlier this morning. "I could be asking you the same thing." Kim eyed him. "Where have you've been?"

"Oh... nowhere special girl, just the movies and then we're going to head to Bueno Nacho after." Monique answered for him, looking at her slightly wide eyed. "You wanna come with?"

Kim did a double take at what Monique just said. Movies—Them—Together? Since when did Monique and Ron hang? Something here didn't seem to add up. And she didn't like it.

"You two went to the movies?" Kim asked more confused than before, pointing between the both of them. Then a small frown tugged at her lips—why didn't she get an invite to the movies? "Together?" she quietly added.

Monique waved off innocently, hitting Ron in the shoulder. "Oh it was awesome girl. We went to go watch that werewolf film and then get this! We snuck in to watch another movie. It was pretty rad." The girl then dragged Ron closer for Kim to see. "And take a look at here. After I won a bet, Ron is now forced to wear whatever I pick out for him for the entire school year."

Kim listened closely to Monique's words and stared at the silent 'Help me' plead between Ron's lips. Still a little tweaked, Kim smirked deviously, and figured payback time was here and now. She grinned at Monique and pulled her away from Ron.

"Well then, I always thought Ron could use a _new _change of style," Kim emphasized hard for him to hear. "Gosh knows how many times I tried to change him."

Ron only watched afar as Kim and Monique walked farther away from his ear shot. Rufus had remained on his shoulder, rubbing his owner's on the cheek, knowing his impending doom had only just begun.

"I'm so screwed Rufus."

"Uh-huh!"

**…**

"So what do you think girl?" Monique asked Kim by the register, leaning on her forearms to rest.

Kim was still a little stunned by it all. What did she think? She honestly had no idea what to think. After Monique revealed the tale of how she got Ron to stand in a Club Banana store and actually try on clothes, well, Kim's brain tried it's hardest not to shut down as it processed the info.

Wrestling match, fun at the movies, and now shopping? Monique and Ron were having loads of fun and what was she doing? Buying art supplies and working on crummy yearbook pages, that's what. Kim found it all overwhelming and groaned, resting on the Club Banana counter.

Monique took quick notice and nudged her by the shoulder, "Kim? Are you ok? Is something eating at you?"

She looked up and sighed, rubbing her temples. "I guess I'm a just getting a little stressed out from all this club work I got to do."

Funny enough, Monique could understand what she meant. She had seen the girl do a lot and always wondered how she could accomplish all that and not go totally crazy. It never occurred to either of them that Ron always helped out Kim even she didn't ask for it.

Monique halfheartedly smiled and reached beneath the Club Banana counter to pull out an orange ball. She handed Kim the ball to get a quick feel.

"What is this?" Kim asked, holding the ball to eye level.

"Girl that you got there is something we recently got from headquarters. It's our newly indestructible stress ball. Just came out yesterday." Monique shrugged, "Figured you could use one."

"A stress ball? "Kim squeezed the ball a few times in her fingers, finding that some of her stress did seem to melt away. She squeezed it a few more times, enjoying the feeling. "I guess one wouldn't hurt," she reluctantly agreed.

Monique grinned wider, "See, I knew you would like it."

Just then Ron entered, playing with his hood, and looking nervous. Neither could guess why before a loud growl echoed in the room. He appeared even more nervous and fumbled with the strings of his hoodie.

Clearly Ron wanted food, most likely Bueno Nacho like Monique had mentioned earlier.

Rolling her eyes playfully, Kim went to pick up her bags from the floor. "I guess I'll leave you two to your shopping spree then. Later Ron. Later Monique," she said over her shoulder.

"You don't wanna come with?" Ron asked.

"Can't," Kim lifted up the bags full of supplies. "I got a banner to paint for a play and still a few pages to work on the yearbook."

Monique shrugged, pulling Ron back to the dressing room to pick out more outfits for him to wear. "Oh well, later girl. Have fun."

"Later."

Kim walked a few feet out of Club Banana and then turned from a distance to see Ron and Monique enjoying each other's company. Ron actually seemed to enjoy being Monique's new project, even if he did seem to fight her every step of the way. And Kim would catch Monique giggle at something he said or did every few seconds.

It was then she realized that the outfit Monique picked for him matched with hers, contemplating her style with his. And from afar, she felt a tiny spark of jealously rise in her. Quickly, Kim ignored it, figuring it was only due to them going out to the movies without her.

So what if they matched and hung out—and didn't bother to invite her. It was all most likely a coincidence anyways Kim stubbornly resolved.

The girl huffed, turning to leave the duo, but lingered in her steps. Even with her powerful resolve, it did bug a tiny part of her.

And somewhere deep inside, the hero girl didn't notice her hand, slowly, squeeze down on the stress ball between her fingers.

* * *

**Author Notes: **Wait! I forgot to ask this in the last author notes. What do you think of a **Ron/Tara** story?

So the winner for my next story to write is a **Rongo**. A nice simple stressful Ron and Shego story.

Hn, I'm thinking... Humor/Romance/Pain. Lots of Pain. What do you think?


	4. Mint

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing of Kim Possible.

**Vanilla Swirl**

– **Mint –**

**By: Imyoshi**

Kim isn't proud enough not to admit it.

She really missed having Ron beside her for the past few days. Sure it had only been a few days, but still. Seeing him hang out with Monique while she was stuck doing the mundane chores of the drama department had stressed her a bit over the edge. Okay maybe more than a bit, but watching them have fun at the mall, picking out outfits for Ron's wardrobe, and hearing them going to Bueno Nacho after only further pushed her over. Why? No clear definite answer became visible.

But it just did.

Luckily or unluckily, the Middleton Museum got hit by a theft break in, forcing both of them out of their social lives to handle hero work. It took only minutes for the teens to meet up at the parking structure of the museum, mission gear and all. Both were ready to tackle any foe, small or large or even possibly a monkey. The mission call itself had dampened Kim's mood, but within those first few minutes having alone time between her and Ron had really lighten her back up. Having him besides her trying to crack jokes really did ease the tension in her body if the big smile on her face was any correlation.

"So what was it again that the bad guy is trying to steal KP?" Ron asked.

Now this was the part where Kim would normally sigh at Ron for not paying attention at Wade explaining the mission, except this time she felt exceptionally lenient at the look of his innocent stare. Gosh how she never knew how much she would miss look that in the span of only a couple of days.

Lowering her smile, she stopped right at the edge of the structure, aiming her grappling gun towards the edge of the museum.

"That's what we're here to find out Ron," she explained. "Wade said this month's museum exhibit has to do with ancient Egypt and that anything in the museum can be a target. So let's hurry up before the bad guy gets away!"

Before Ron could get another word in, she grabbed him by the waist and pulled the trigger of her grappling gun, successfully snagging the edge of the museum roof. Ron yelped in surprise from the rush of being propelled into the air as Kim enjoyed the rush of air hitting her face. She lived for this rush of adrenaline.

Landing on the roof both in their own alternate ways, Kim as graceful as her cheerleading moves and Ron as refined as well, Ron, they synced into routine, quietly moving towards the ventilation shaft. Phase 1, sneaking up on the bad guys was a go.

Slowly crawling through the vents, Kim and Ron listened for any sounds that would give away the robbers location for earlier Wade confirmed that the security cameras had been disabled. They traveled a few exhibit rooms until the sound of a rather loud conversation echoed through the vents. The sounds ricocheted louder as they crawled closer to the treasure exhibit room.

Kim and Ron stopped to see through the vent slits, watching 4 overly large muscle men dressed in a standard black two piece outfit, searching through the contents of the room, seeking something intently. The room itself contained gold masks, various bracelets, diamonds on display, small trinkets here and there, a fake mummy, and a large scepter sealed in a glass tube settled in the middle, drawing the most attention.

One of the men seemed to be cutting through the scepter's glass, while the other three stayed to guard him somewhat looking nervous, but still digging through the sorts of treasures.

"Hurry up Mac," one of them yelled. "The boss is short on time here! We gotta hurry before those brats show up! They live in this town!"

"Hey," another wondered, stopping his mid-search. "That actually gets me thinking. You ever wonder why guys like us rob places where heroes live. I mean would've been smarter to like not rob this place right now or you know, rob it before the exhibit was moved here? Why do we have to rob it now?"

All three of his companions stopped to look at him hard for a moment before the one who was hacking the glass smacked him on the head.

"Shut up Carl!" he yelled to the poor guy. "We have to rob this joint right now because it's what the boss is paying us to do. We don't question his decisions when it comes to money."

"Well we should," he mumbled while rubbing his head.

"What was that?"

"Nothing, just finish what you were doing." Carl would later question his life choices. "The faster we get out of here the better. This place gives me the creeps."

"What? Are you afraid of that mummy attacking you," one of the other men taunted, pointing his thumb at it. "It's fake. I don't think we have to worry about him attacking us any time soon? Besides, Mac is about done anyways."

Just as the man taunted the clear thinking man, the vents holding Kim and Ron began to bend under the continuing joint weight, more favorably on Ron side.

_Thud_!

Feeling himself sinking a bit, Ron looked down to hear the metal bending under him.

"Uh oh," Ron eyes widened as the vent kept on bending beneath him, sinking him deeper and deeper. "Um, Kim?" he dawned, tapping her on the shoulder.

"Shh! Not now Ron," Kim whispered, pushing his hand away. "I'm trying to figure out how we're going to surprise them."

_Thud_!

"But Kim," he urged.

"Ron. Not now," she warned.

_Thud_!

"But KP," he ferociously tugged her shoulder.

Giving in, Kim rolled her eyes angry. "What Ron," she finally turned to see Ron as he fell through the vent shaft, screaming, and land right on the fake mummy. Her eyes widened at the scene. Dust quickly spread from the collision, shocking everyone in the room.

Upon seeing what Ron wanted, Kim smiled guiltily, her cheeks flushed, "Oh."

The surprise fall had not only startled the men, but as well start a coughing fit between them, luckily hiding Ron long enough to get tangled within the binds of the fake mummy. Eventually the aged looking binding covered his entire upper body, except for one of his eyes and stretches of his messy blond hair.

When the dust cloud finally settled, Ron tried to get up, groaning from the aching pain of falling from the vents. His whimpers alerted the men to the source of the dust cloud.

"Who's there?!" yelled random thug number four. The rest of them stood guard, prepared for anything.

"Ugh!"

Well almost anything.

Ron walked out the remaining dust cloud still covered in layers of bandages, his one visible eyes peering right at them. He had one arm extended out to not crash into anything, while the other gripped the folds of his binding, trying to tear it right off. To the men the teen looked to be approaching them, trying to grab them, while all Ron wanted to do was free himself.

"Uh!"

Oh yea, don't forget about the pain—which sounded like a zombie's cry.

Upon hearing its cry, the robbers stopped in fear. Scared and staring right at the mummy's one good eye, watching as it approached them, arm stretched, the four men turned tail and ran, stopping only momentarily to break the glass holding the scepter. Scared or not, money talks... and it said to them to grab the scepter!

Ron just stood there, not really knowing what was happening at the moment, as in the meantime, Kim had watched everything from the vent, almost totally surprised—almost. Having Ron as a best friend really made sitches like this easier to accept, no matter how absurd they truly seemed and seeing Ron being wrapped up like a mummy and scaring away the robbers did seem to push his that absurdness to it utmost limits. But she could accept it.

"Uh, Ron?" she called out from the vent's hole. "You alright down there?"

Mummy boy turned, stiffening a bit at the small specks of pain that his body cried out. Trying to look okay and failing completely at it, Ron groaned as he rubbed the sore spots of his neck. His entire body hurt. Yea, he'll definitely feel this tomorrow.

"Never better KP," Kim's lips pursed, easily seeing the pain he was in. A guilty feeling bubbled in her chest. Maybe—no, she should've prevented him from falling. Ron did try to warn her.

Looking back to where that weird scepter had been previously before the villains got away, she grumbled. Seeing as the robbers had fled and didn't seem on coming back, Kim settled for the mission to be basically over.

Turing back to Ron and watching as he tried to pull the bandages off, Kim sighed. Jumping down from vent hole to better help him, she grabbed his arm, holding him in place.

"Here," she stopped, a small teasing smile playing her features. "You're only making it worst. Let me get those off you."

Ron nodded, his only visible eye relaxing a bit. Kim was always better at this stuff than him. If anything else, he'll only get himself even more tangled up before. No one wanted that.

A few minutes of comfortable silence stretched as Kim slowly worked off his bandages. Every so often she wondered how on Earth he actually got _this_ tangled up from that small fall. But it really didn't matter. Helping him untangled himself from what's essentially a Ron-moment was something she did many times.

Kim finished in record time, leaving the bandages to still cover a good portion of his head for fun. She turned, eyeing where the scepter had been, studying the broken case. Her mission mind went in override trying to figure the importance of the object the criminals stole, but she could only accomplish so much.

Grumbling in defeat for now, Kim pulled out the Kimmunicator.

"Wade?" she frowned upon answer. "The bad guys got away. They stole some really weird rod from this display case here in the mummy exhibit."

"Ok, I'll get a look at the museums data log to see what was in there. It may take a while to since the museum has a lot of backed information stored on their hard drives for Egyptian artifacts," he stated but then paused. "Uh... Kim? Is that a mummy behind you?"

She turned around to see Ron still sporting the bandages around his face, a grin on his face. He _still _had his eye and hair tangled up, "You know," he chimed. "These things feel great! They breathe!"

Both the other two members of Team Possible stared blankly at Ron's laid back answer and Kim was the first to respond by shaking her head at his uniqueness.

Of all times for Ron to be well, Ron... he chose right now.

But damn it if she wasn't smiling.

...

"You know we can turn back right now and I won't hold it against you."

"Aww, that's cute." Monique grinned, literally pushing Ron towards the school. "You still think you have a choice in the matter."

A few hours—not hour, but hours before school even started, Monique had showed up at Ron's house with a mission of her own. The poor boy had actually forgotten that he was his _friend _new personal manikin. Her own personal none disagreeable manikin. Never mind her showing up at an ungodly hour, but just the thought of what she planned to make him wear sent a cold shiver down the thing he called a spine.

So the first moment he had opened that door with the sleep still clearly in his eyes, Monique had budged right in and taken over. Twenty outfits later, the first outfit he they agreed on at Club Banana, a few set for the next following days, and even a timetable schedule for when they would need to go shopping again, Ron nearly cried. What? Did all girls go this crazy when it came to clothes?

He knew not to ask that of course. His body still ached from the fall the day before. Why risk more pain?

Slowly the school became visible forcing Ron into a deeper state of fear. It was one thing for Kim to have witness one of his new outfits, but the entire school would just eat him. Panic very slowly started to settle in.

It was another haircut episode all over again!

Ron sidestepped Monique, trying to run from her and the school. However the fashion girl easily sensed his nervousness ahead of time and made little effort to grab and hold him by the threads of his crimson hoodie. When the sidekick realized that his feet couldn't pull out of her insanely strong grip, he gave in. Damn, holding shopping bags all days must be one hell of a work out after all?

"You done yet," her grin only grew wider. "Because I can't wait to see everyone's reaction to the new and improved, Ron Stoppable."

"I can," he muttered.

"What was that?"

"Nothing," he answered, ignoring Rufus who patted his cheek soothing for support. Ron couldn't really call it _support_ when his little buddy decided to use the hood of his outfit to live in.

"Hmph," she smirked now, "Didn't think so. Maybe this will teach you next time not to bet with me."

Oh, she had to bring that up didn't she?

"You only won because Pain King got lucky!" Ron challenged, suddenly turning to meet her devious gaze, and all panic previous gone. Really, how did he never know of this mischievous side of Monique before? It seemed pretty hard to miss.

Meanwhile Monique had a different sort but same mindful thought as well. She had liked to think she had Ron pegged from when she first met him. Clumsy and scared witted with a dash of foolish joy on the side. However, his serious face and overall more matures attitude was something else. When he wanted, he could extremely fun to be around, wrestling aside. Shopping with him the day before hadn't been that bad. If you could get him into groove, Ron tended to be a pleasing shopping partner. He knew his colors! Could keep a conversation and didn't find holding bags all day that troublesome. All of this most likely had to do with having a girl as a best friend for his entire life she concluded. But dumb luck aside, serious Ron was different.

This fire behind his passion made for an enjoyable change of pace. She liked serious Ron, but in order to get serious Ron out, Monique learned she needed to push his buttons.

And pushed she did.

"Are we really back on this?" she smirked as she finally noticed his hands around her shoulders. "How many times do I have to tell you? He did not get lucky. It was all skill, baby!"

_Push_

"Luck," he growled.

"Skill," she teased.

_Push_

"Luck," again.

A twinkle in her eyes was the only warning he got before Monique smugly leaned closer. "Luck is a skill."

_Push_

Ron let her go, throwing his hands in the air. He took a few minutes to calm down before facing her again, then than infamous smirk she saw at ice cream parlor was back on his face and Monique wondered if Kim even knew of that particular facial twitch.

"Fine, how about another bet?" Monique didn't even get a chance to ask. "If Steal Toe beats Pain King in The Brawl of Hall next week, then you have to go with me to JP Bearymore's Pizza Party-torium."

Monique's eye twitched.

What?

Before Ron could react, Monique was laughing at the idea. She kept laughing for a few seconds before realizing Ron was not laughing, but in fact still had his serious face.

Her expression blanked. "Wait, time out," cue time out hand sign. "You're serious?"

His smirk steadied, "Note serious face."

Her baffled expression weighed heavily on his shoulders as the bet sunk in. "Why?" she finally asked.

He stopped, his features saddening a bit, "I mean yea it's fun to go there, but it's never that fun without someone else. Kim never wants to go since she hates the smell of burnt pizza."

"And I would?" Monique asked, arms crossed.

"It's a bet, remember?" he grinned. "If I win you don't get a choice in the matter."

Stopping at his boldness, Monique contemplates on her next decision. She rubs her chin in deep thought.

"If I win," okay, so she's agreeing if that damn grin didn't wasn't enough to inform him. "You must admit to the entire school that Pain King is the man. And that Steal _Woe_ is nothing but a washed up... has-been."

Ron stiffens a bit, Rufus on the side trying to pat his cheek for more support. It's one thing to throw away his pride, he practically does that with the super villains he deals with on a daily basis, but it's another to betray his childhood icon—next to Granny Crockett off course. She's still number one in his book.

Still, the idea of having company with him to his most favorite badical pizzeria has him smiling like a fool. He can't help but wrap his arm around her shoulder, pulling her close. Monique brightens at his attitude, finding his carefree emotions a bit contagious.

"Fine," he agrees. "If I win we get to have pizza!"

"Just pizza?"

"And play games," he adds without hesitation, but then his moods shimmers a bit. "And if you win–!"

"Which I will," she teases.

"Which you won't," his determination is impressive. "Then I'll... I'll..."

"Come on," Monique gestures with her hand. "Say it. You'll what?"

Sigh, "I'll admit Pain King is the better wrestler and that Steal Toe is... is a has-been." Oh, she knew that had to hurt right in the gut.

Watching the inner struggle in his eyes, Monique remembers all the kind things he's done for her for the past few days. Ice cream, wrestling, shopping... friendship, Ron's done a lot already for her. Maybe a little mercy is in order.

"You know," she breaks his struggle. "You don't have to bet. Last time I checked we had almost this exact conversation a few nights before a certain King pinned down Steal Toe." Monique adds. "And you lost then. Why don't we just go for the fun of it?"

There, she gave him an out. Now all the fashion girl had to do was wait for him to take the bait like any normal guy would and—!

"No way!" Wait... _what?_ "Ron Stoppable never goes back on his word! It's a rule!"

Rules... upon hearing those words, her attitude deadpans, "Didn't we already discuss Ron? Your rules so don't help you—ever."

"This one will."

Monique stared at his content expression slightly awed, wondering what just happened.

Ron _didn't _take the out. He didn't do what all other guys would do when given the chance. He chose to take his chances, consequences be damned. And if Monique had anything to comment about that, she would say it was admirable. Almost something she longed to see in any boy.

It was then she realized that Ron still had his arm around her shoulders, hugging her close, and no amount of self composure could stop the small redness building between the bridge of her nose.

Mustering up some courage, Monique shrugs off his arm, taking a small step back. She settles her hand on her hip, huffing a bit before grinning again at the predicament. If he wanted to lose another bet, then so be it. Who is she to stop him?

"Fine Ron," her arm extends to reach his. "It's a bet." He reaches out.

A few moments of silence later Ron rubs his necks, staring off to the side.

"So..." he trails nervously, "About these clothes?"

"No."

* * *

**Author Notes: **Sorry for the delay.


	5. Coffee

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing of Kim Possible.

**Vanilla Swirl**

– **Coffee –**

**By: Imyoshi**

Kim's day had not started off well.

And it had only gotten worse as it progressed.

She had woken up late since she set her alarm clock to 6:30 p.m. not a.m. the night before. Then the rush of getting out of bed led her to stubbing her toe against her desk when trying to make up for the lost time. And not only did she accidentally hurt herself, but Tim had taken forever in the shower and she didn't even have time to enjoy breakfast when she finally was ready for school.

But what hurt the most was that Ron had not showed up to walk her to school like usual.

And Kim could've _really_ used some of his Ronshine that morning.

Now here she was in front of her locker, mumbling to herself, dangerously low on Ronshine and wondering what happened to Ron as she slammed her books in and squeezed that stress relief ball Monique gave her over and over again. She was slowly starting to get addicted to the little thing.

"Hmph, stupid alarm clock, stupid desk, stupid Tim..." grumble, grumble, grumble.

Passing students couldn't help but overhear the excessive complaining coming from Kim, but kept moving forward anyways. They liked their bones not broken and in the right places thank you very much. An angry Kim Possible was a dangerous Kim Possible.

Shoving the last of her books inside her locker, Kim waited for Ron to show, but seconds soon turned into minutes and she decided to contact Wade to see if he had any leads on their Egyptian heist the other day to pass the time.

"Hey Kim," Wade greeted absently, reading some papers.

"Hey Wade," she greeted back equally as distracted. "Checking to see if you dug up anything on our museum heist yesterday."

"Hold on, give me a second here," Wade uploaded an ancient text to her screen. "I uncovered a little. It turns out the scepter they stole yesterday has something to do with this ancient Egyptian ritual. I'm trying to decipher the ancient text as we speak, but it's going to take me a while. A lot of these hieroglyphs are difficult to translate."

"Do you think the bad guy knows what the text says?" she asks.

Wade glared at the paper, "Probably, but it would have to be someone that has a great knowledge of Egyptian artifacts and culture. But I wouldn't be able to guess who until I get more clues."

"Do you know at least what scepter it was they stole?"

More typing and a new image of the said scepter appeared on the screen. "The museum archives state that it supposedly belonged to the Egyptian God of the Sun, Ra. But there's no definite way of knowing for sure. Sorry Kim."

Sigh, "Thanks anyways, Wade." she smiled weakly, closing the connection. Her mind immediately went into mission mode trying to figure out what the bad guys could want with an old scepter. But so far, nothing came to mind.

...

Stepping into their boss's office, the three henchmen stood across his steel desk where he sat, chair turned away and the stolen scepter in Mac's hand while the others stood nervously between him. Even if no appointed leader existed between the three, it was universally decided that Mac had been selected, asked to or not.

Their employer remained turned away, leaning a bit back on his chair, the light effects of the shadows hiding his upper body. His fingers tapped aimlessly on the arm rest, waiting.

"What happened?"

"We ran into some trouble, boss. But we were able to snag the scepter you wanted." Mac answered.

"Trouble?" he questioned, ignoring the good news. "What kind of trouble?"

Mac gripped the scepter tighter, wondering if his boss would believe him, "A mummy—Now before you start thinking we've gone crazy... just hear us out!"

"No need," he cut off, turning to stare at his employees, face still well hidden. "I've seen crazier things than a mummy before. So don't worry too much about it."

"You have?" he asked, relieved.

"Yes," he eyes wandered between his three henchmen, stopping momentarily back at him. "Weren't there four of you? Where's Carl?"

Upon hearing that name, the three henchmen looked between each other, shrugging at the possible answer they could give their boss. After all, Carl had just left after the heist without even looking back. Still, they needed to give him an answer. Eventually henchmen number three, Curly, walked forward to deliver the news.

"Um, he left boss," he answered, laughing a bit. "He was yelling something about the future and all that. Crazy talk ya know. So it looks like we're a bit short handed... uh!"

_Slam_!

All three henchmen cringed as their boss's fist slammed against his desk, a small dent on his steel desk visible. "Do you think this is a _joke_?!"

"N-No sir! I didn't mean it like that! I wasn't laughing about that!"

Fuming slightly, their boss slowed his breathing to better his nerves. Eventually the anger around him withered down to mild annoyance. Without even muttering a word, his hand reached out. Scared, Mac handed him the scepter, his two companions equally as frightened.

"You're dismissed," he yelled, eyeing the scepter with an interest. "Take a few days off. I'll have a new assignment ready for you in a couple of days."

Hearing him discharged them for the day; Mac steeled his nerves and stepped forward. He needed to get something off his chest and thought might as well as get his request over with.

"Boss," he breathed. "The guys and I feel we need to find another guy to replace Carl. Since you know the old saying, threes a crowd, but fours a party... and I feel safer with four." The other two nodded alongside him.

Eyeing them and then back at the scepter that they _did _manage to steal from the hometown of the notorious Kim Possible, he turned his chair away from them, agreeing.

"Fine then." Waving his hand dismissively, "Go find a replacement. Just make sure you have him before I call you back!"

Nodding and happy at his approval, the three henchmen casually walked out their boss's office, towards their villainous get away van, trying to think of a good replacement for Carl. They only had a few days to figure it out.

"Who are we going to find to replace Carl?" Mac wondered, somewhat sad. "I went to law school with that guy. I'm gonna miss him."

"No idea."

"Hey, Mac, why don't we ask your cousin Larry and see if he wants to join?" Curly added. "The guy looks like he could use some time away from his wife."

"No kidding."

...

"C'mon Ron, it won't be that bad." Monique reassured him, trying to get Ron to enter the school.

"That's what my mom said about Camp Wannaweep!" he argued. "And she was wrong! Way wrong! I still have nightmares of that pollution filled lake and that damn monkey mascot, Monique!"

She stopped trying to get Ron to enter the building upon realizing that he was immobilized by fear. Thinking, Monique tried to recall what Kim once told her on how to get Ron out of his scared state. It took her a second, but she remembered.

Focusing, Monique pushed her arms closer, opened her eyes, and unleashed her pout in full effect at a poor unsuspecting Ron.

Ron stared in horror at her puppy dog pout, his eyes slightly wide. Monique almost grinned when she saw his internal struggle, almost. She needed to keep calm and steady, and maybe even wobble her lip a smidge to get him cave.

And Ron almost did cave.

"N-Nope!" he broke free, stunning the world. "Sorry Monique, but it's not as strong as KP's. You're still not getting me into that school."

Pout defeated, Monique remained stunned and slightly impressed at the boy's strength. Who knows how hard it must be to resist the pout? But impressed or not, she did not wake at five this morning just for Ron to back out now.

Time for the big guns.

Glaring, Monique pointed towards the school doors, "Either you get your butt into that school or I'll spread a rumor around that you collect cuddle buddies." Threats, they were onto threats now.

And just like that, all of Ron's fear melted away, to only be replaced with defiance.

"No one will believe you," challenged a heated Ron.

"Perhaps," she reasoned, shrugging, a devious smirk etching her lips. "I guess we'll have to leave to oh so clear thinking and non-judging minds of the average high student decide, won't we?"

It took a few seconds for what Monique said to seek in and when it did, Ron remained silent, glaring at her.

"That hurts Monique," he claimed. "It hurts right here in my heart." Ron pointed at some part of his body.

"That's your liver, Ron."

"It still hurts!"

Grinning, she pushed a defeated sidekick into the school, his nervousness not her problem. Not in the slightest. She won, he lost. It wasn't anything new—just another day of being the great fashion expert, Monique.

"You know I hate you right?"

"No you don't."

...

Ready for class and standing beside her locker, Kim tapped her foot impatiently, waiting to see any sign of her goofy messy blond headed best friend. Ron was taking longer than usual to show up. If he planned on showing up at all that is.

_Squeeze_!

"Where is Ron?" Kim wondered, squeezing the life out of the stress ball. "English class is going to start soon and Mr. Barkin is going to flip if he's late again."

_Squeeze_!

A couple of random students passed by her were engaged in a rather unique conversation that she happened to catch a sentence of.

"Hey did you get a look at Stoppable's new dreads, they looked pretty rad," one of the random teens commented with his buddy on there way to class.

Upon hearing the random guy's conversation, Kim didn't know what was worse. Ron wearing another new outfit or that guy's out of date teen slang. No wait, it was definitely that guy's out of date slang. Ron could always change his outfit, but it was far too late to save that poor guy.

Wait a minute... new outfit?

"Ron has a new outfit?" she questioned before it all came back to her. "That's right! He lost a bet with Monique and has to wear whatever she says."

Kim's eyes narrowed a bit at those new stats, slowly recalling the last time Ron did something _new_. Last time something like this happened he got a new haircut and it came with an inflated ego. And judging about how those few teens sounded, sad as they may be, she figured Ron's outfit rocked.

Then another haunting thought crossed her mind. Ron didn't show up to her house this morning because he was too busy with Monique that morning. That small spec of info did something to Kim. A heat in her chest rose and she suddenly felt a tight constrict bind in her stomach, knotting in the dead center.

She didn't know _exactly_ what it was she was feeling at the moment, but Kim did know that she did not like it—not at all. It almost seemed foreign, but some part of it still seemed oddly familiar. Like it was subtly mocking her for not realizing _what _it was.

Forgetting it for now, Kim allowed herself to smirk at what probably Monique was dealing with. A hot-headed Ron Stoppable made for a terrible friend and Kim was pretty sure that's exactly what Ron happened to be at the moment. She knew from personal experience that Ron with sudden popularity was not fun to be around.

And Kimberly was glad that she wasn't the one having to deal with it.

Mystery of the missing best friend solved, she walked towards where those two random guys came from, figuring that Ron had to be in that general direction. She couldn't wait to see how Monique handled Ron.

...

One minute.

It only took one damn minute before Ron decided he loved his new outfit after all the positive attention he got from the student body.

And one damn minute for his alter ego to kick in.

"Booyah," Ron grinned at the lovely ladies eyeing him. "I'm liking this."

Monique watched with calm interest as Ron's smile turned fairly seductive, his entire Ronness warming up into a fire of passion. She even noticed the tone in his voice changing and his abrupt more laid back attitude. In all it pointed to one conclusion.

This wasn't good.

Monique recognized this. Kim once told about _this _Ron. And from the stories she heard, it looked like Ron was falling back into his old funk. To further support her theory, Rufus jumped out of Ron's hoodie and ran up her shoulder, jumping in a hysteric panic for his owner.

"I know, Rufus. I know," Monique acknowledged, rubbing her chin in deep thought. "We got to stop this before it gets out of control."

"Uh-huh!"

Looking at the naked mole rat on her shoulder, Monique got a crazy idea. Never one for doing things complicated, unless of course clothes were involved, she decided to try something that most people tended to avoid until they had no cards left. At least the people she knew did that.

The direct approach.

Walking up towards Ron, she grabbed him by the hood of his hoodie by her one free arm, the other holding her books for class and pulled him away from all the attention he greedily breathed in. Suffice to say, the _current _Ron was not pleased.

"What gives, Monique?" Ron yelled, freeing himself from her hold and glaring something at her. "What's your damage? Couldn't you see I was a bit busy there?"

Arms crossed, shoulders hunched, and glare equally as strong—Monique didn't falter. She simply hit Ron on the shoulder roughly, hoping the pain stung even a little.

Judging by the way he rubbed his shoulder, it did.

"Ron," her tone was strong and demanding forcing the sidekick to flinch. "You got to stop this before it gets out of hand."

"Stop what?" he asked, shoulder still hurting. "I was just talking to those girls over there."

"No... not just that, Ron," Monique humph. "You got to stop from turning into that other Ron."

"Other Ron? What other Ron? You're not making much sense here, Monique!"

She allows her eyes to sadden, "The one that forgets about his friends... his family... Rufus," she could tell that one stung. "The one Kim told me about," she adds, "Ron with the new haircut... that Ron."

For a moment it seemed Ron had a comeback ready for her, but he stops halfway, his thoughts completely shot. All he could focus on that instant was her last words. The reminder she gave him. The memory—the bad memory. He remembers Ron with a new haircut. He remembers that one well.

And he remembers how he _almost_ lost his essential Ronness. His core. That very core he had that gave him an easy going devil may care attitude that made Ron... an easy going devil may care guy.

Frozen, Monique and Rufus watch as Ron seems to focus and then lose focus as the words hit deep. An unseen fight warred between him and him alone.

"Ron?" Monique worryingly called out, her hand reaching out to grab his shoulder. "Are you okay?" That alone enough seems to shake him out of his daze, allowing him to center on what was important.

Slightly stunned at her worried face, Ron slowly grabbed her wrist, not moving her hand away or any closer. He studied her expression and then looked at Rufus standing on her shoulder for some sort of guidance. The little guy jumped over to his shoulder, rubbing his paw across his face for comfort.

That's all the help he needed.

Smiling warmly, Ron laughs lightly at the sitch, "You're right, Monique. I don't want to turn into that Ron again."

Upon hearing his answer, Monique sighs in relief, grinning, "You better not or I'm going to have smack you hard across the face. And believe me, you don't want that."

"Hehe, I guess not," Ron admits, still feeling the pain his shoulder. "I guess I almost turned back into bigheaded Ron, huh?"

"Yea," she smiles, "But don't worry, I'm here to make sure that doesn't happen." Rufus chirps in protest, "Oh and Rufus too. We're both here to keep that head of yours sealed on tight."

"Thanks," he mutters.

"Don't mention it, naco boy," Monique teased, only now noticing he still held her wrist. She pulled away, feeling warmer than before and about ready to head to class. "C'mon, Mr. Barkin will flip out if you're late again. And I don't want detention either. I got better things to do after school that being locked up in a room."

"Like what?"

"Like _not _being locked up in a room. Seriously Ron, it's no wonder your pants keep falling."

"Hey!" he cried. "It's not my fault! The universe it out to get me!"

"The universe?" she deadpanned.

"Yes the universe!" Monique's expression did not change and Ron grew a little flustered. "Whatever! Let's just go to class already."

Grinning, Monique expected Ron to sulk the entire way to English class. She expected too of course follow and tease him without a shred of mercy on the way there. What she didn't expect was for Ron to grab her books out of under her arm and then begin walking to class.

"Uh, Ron?" Monique called. "What are you doing?"

He stopped to stare at her, "Walking to class, Monique. What does it look like?"

"No, not that, Ron," she huffed before pointing at her books in his hands. "I meant my books. Why'd you take them?"

Ron could only give her an innocent stare, eventually deciding to shrug indifferent. "I thought it be nice to hold them for you... a way of saying thanks, since, you know," he trails absently. "But I mean if you want to hold your own—"

"No!" she cuts in, pushing him towards the class. "Momma is all good here. You can just carry those for me. All day in fact. It's no big, right Ron?"

He grins in response, "Right."

...

Kim stood in silence as she watched Ron and Monique head to class. Her face was twisted up in annoyance, her nose scrunching in a mad but adorable way, and her arms remained stiffly at her sides, fist curled. She had walked on between Ron and Monique just in time to see Ron _not _acting like she expected and even worse, he was holding Monique's books for her. Kim can't even recall if Ron ever did that for her.

Yet there he was—holding Monique's books—not acting like his jerky self when he gained popularity.

This was so ferociously unfair.

For the past week, Kim only had personal time with Ron during the mission while Monique had all the rest. She knew she couldn't blame her though, it wouldn't be fair. After all, always being busy did attribute to some of the problem. And it wasn't like Monique _planned_ to take Ron away from her. But before, Ron would have always stood beside her, helping her finish her the demanding workload, taking an immense pressure off her shoulders.

But now Monique seemed to be taking of all of Ron's personal time.

All of it.

Leaving Kim to burden her responsibilities alone.

Not even realizing what she was doing, Kim had already grabbed the stress ball Monique gave her, giving the poor device a powerful squeeze.

_Squeeze_!

"What makes Monique so special?" Kim didn't even realize she was talking out loud. "First they're hanging out, then the movies, Bueno Nacho, having what is suppose to be _our_ morning walks, and now he's holding her books for her!"

_Squeeze_!

Not actually imagining she'll get a response from the empty hallway, Kim kept her eyes solely focused on her retreating friends, hearing them laugh at some joke along the way. When they finally escaped from her stare, she sighed heavily, giving a last squeeze to the ball. She was getting too stressed these past few days and needed to cool down, but she couldn't. Relief didn't seem to want to her a break.

If anything, Kim realized that she felt relief when Ron was around her. Telling her jokes, calming her down when she worked herself to hard, or even smiling those warm lovable smiles her way.

The thought of it all... hurt.

Rubbing her forehead at what clearly were the signs of a headache coming along, she furrowed her brows in thought before finally deciding on her next course of action.

In order to feel better and stop herself from turning into a Kimmie-storm, she has all but one option left.

It was time to get her best friend back!

Storming off to class determined, Kim didn't notice a certain brunette behind her, having heard what she had said moments ago. Apparently the hallway wasn't as empty as she first thought.

"Oh, this is going to be _so _much fun."

* * *

**Author Notes: **Sorry for the wait.


End file.
